Blake Holliday, BHP baseball player killed in accident, honored by the team he helped beat

Belton-Honea Path's Blake Holliday pitches in the Class AAA District I Championship game in Honea Path. The Clemson signee pitched a complete game three-hitter and hit a walk-off home run.(Photo: Katie McLean)

His performance on the mound paired with a double and a run-batted-in at the plate helped propel the Bears to a second-straight crown, the fifth in program history.

St. James is set to honor the late Blake Holliday this year on the baseball diamond.(Photo: Courtesy Robbie Centracchio)

St. James baseball coach Robbie Centracchio said Holliday, and the BHP program, have a lot of respect at St. James.

"We were shocked and saddened like everyone in the state, and I thought it would be a great way to honor and remember him," Centracchio said. "The team loved the idea as we have a lot of returning players who faced him in the 2016 state championship series."

BHP coach Steve Williams called it a classy act from a classy program.

"It is a very nice gesture, especially since we won that game in the way we did," Williams said. "It took guts on their part."

Perhaps it also took heart.

"Some people might be surprised that an opposing team that lost in the state championship would want to honor or remember him on our field," Centracchio said. "He is and always will be a part of the history of our program and high school baseball in South Carolina."

Williams said the honor from St. James is indicative of the close-knit baseball community in South Carolina.

"That is really what it comes down to. We all want to compete and get the almighty W, but at the end of the day we all just enjoy competing with each other," he said. "We all compete hard against each other, but there are a lot of classy programs led by top-notch coaches in this state."

BHP athletic director Russell Blackston said the entire community is "humbled and thankful" for the positive actions of so many programs and schools across the state.

"More than anything we are teaching life lessons in sports," Blackston said. "It is not just about wins and losses, and if that is what it is all about, than we as coaches are doing something wrong. It is about helping grow young men and young women to be the best they can be in life.

"This showed St. James as a first-class school and a first-class program."

Centracchio said while he only got to meet Holliday twice in the series, it was all he needed to tell the type of person he was.

"Most importantly, his coaches, players and the BHP community embraced him with such excitement and love," he said. "I have never seen a high school player so loved by his community, and it was obviously mutual."

Belton-Honea Path's Blake Holliday pitches in the Class AAA District I Championship game in Honea Path. The Clemson signee pitched a complete game three-hitter and hit a walk-off home run.
Katie McLean

Westside's Trevor Scarborough (21) makes it back to first base near Belton-Honea Path's Blake Holliday during the top of the first inning at Belton-Honea Path High School in 2016.
Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail

Belton-Honea Path's Blake Holliday is congratulated by teammates after his solo home run against Richland Northeast during the bottom of the second inning at Belton-Honea Path High School in 2015.
Independent Mail file